Biocodex Microbiota Fondation Media Room

Spokesperson

Marie-Emmanuelle Le Guern

Marie-Emmanuelle Le Guern, Medical Doctor, has worked in the pharmaceutical industry all her career. First she was head of medical information for Biocodex’s French division in 1989, and then moved into clinical research in 1995. In 2005, she became head of the Clinical Trials Department in Biocodex’s Research Center and was then named Research & Development Director in 2007. She graduated in biology and sports medicine, pharmacokinetics and methodology of clinical evaluations, and has a diploma in international management from ESSEC Business School. She now coordinates all the departments’ activities at the Biocodex Research Center. The Research Center’s 2 core subject areas are the digestive field, in particular probiotics and the central nervous system, with antalgics, anxiolytics, antidepressants and antiepileptic drugs.

Harry Sokol

Harry Sokol, is Professor in the Gastroenterology department of the Saint Antoine Hospital (APHP, Paris, France) and is the head of the Gut Microbiota and Immunity lab (INSERM U1157/UMR CNRS 7203, UPMC, and INRA, Micalis). Following a MD degree in Gastroenterology and a PhD in Microbiology, he spent 2 years in Ramnik Xavier’s lab as postdoctoral research Fellow (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA). Harry Sokol is an internationally recognized expert in IBD and in gut microbiota fields. He published over 120 papers on these topics and is reviewer for several major peer review journals (including Gut, Gastroenterology, Mucosal Immunology, ISME journal, Nature Methods, Science Translational Medicine and Nature). He received several awards including the French Medical Academy Award in 2009 and a rising star award from the United European Gastroenterology Federation in 2013. His work on the role of the gut microbiota in IBD pathogenesis led to landmark papers describing the IBD-associated dysbiosis (imbalance in gut microbiota composition) and the role of the pivotal commensal bacteria Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in gut homeostasis and in IBD. Currently, his work focuses on deciphering the gut microbiota-host interactions in health and diseases (particularly IBD), including viruses and fungi, in order to better understand their pathogenesis and develop innovative treatments. Harry Sokol is now exploring particularly the role of the microbiota in tryptophan metabolism for which he is recipient of an ERC starting grant (2017-2021).

Beside basic science work, he is also involved in translational research and notably coordinates two French randomized control trial evaluating fecal microbiota transplantation in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

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About Biocodex Microbiota Fondation

The Biocodex Microbiota Foundation’s mission is to support research into microbiota and their interaction with various pathologies. Research is supported through grants given to projects that investigate the implication of microbiota in human health. BMF supports both foundational and applied research. Projects are selected annually by a committee of independent international scientists.

The BMF’s primary activity is the awarding of annual grants to innovative scientific research projects that explore the structure of microbiota and, in particular, the impact of an imbalance in microbiota, known as dysbiosis, on the occurrence or evolution of various pathologies.

The BMF also runs and helps establish programs to improve our understanding of microbiota and disseminates this knowledge as widely as possible by organizing scientific meetings dedicated to microbiota and by setting up training sessions. Finally, the BMF can establish public projects which aim to help improve human health and which involve microbiota.

The Biocodex Microbiota Foundation (BMF) is a non-profit, general interest organization.